Question

1. State two auxiliary queue operations and specify what do they do?

2. State two direct applications of queues?

3. State two indirect applications of queues?

Answer 1

Auxiliary queue operations:

Along with the basic enqueue() and dequeue() operations, other auxiliary operations could be as follows:

1) isEmpty() : A function that returns a boolean as true if queue is empty, returns false if queue is not empty

2) front(): A function that returns the frontmost element in the list without actually removing it. This is very much similar to the poll() operation in stack.

3) size(): A function that returns the number of items/nodes present in the queue.

Direct Applications of Queue:

1) Waiting list: The most basic application of queue is that of a store of waiting list. The list is managed in first come first serve basis that could be used in many general applications.

2)Multiprogramming( Scheduling applications) : Queues are used in various scheduling algorithms like FCFS or Multilevel Queue Scheduling algorithm

3) Shared Resources management.: Queues are also used to manage shared resources like printer. These can be managed either by priority basis or quantum basis.

InDirect Applications of Queue:

1) Queues as a primary data structure for other algorithms: Queues can be used as a primary data structure in various other algorithms like Breadth-First-Search or Vertical Tree traversal.

2) As a component of other Data Structures: Queues can be used can a part of other data structures like a priorityqueue.